PATRON SAINTS for various OCCUPATIONS and CONDITIONS

compiled by catherine yronwode from Catholic Church and Folk Sources

Although the Christian religion is monotheistic and all replies to
prayers are said to come from the grace of Jehovah, in practice, prayers to
Jesus and the Holy Spirit (the other two members of the Christian Trinity),
are acceptable to all Christians, and prayers to The Virgin Mary (the mother of
Jesus) have a long history of popular usage dating back to pre-Christian
European Goddess-centered paganism.

As in most religions, the honoured dead of Christianity --
real or fictitious men and women known for their piety --
are referred to as "saints" (holy persons). In what some
scholars believe was an attempt to appeal to pagans who
worshipped various polytheistic pantheons, the Catholic
Church long ago established the concept of the "intercession
of saints," the idea that the saints of the Church have
"the ear of God," and that prayers made by them in Heaven
are more powerful or efficacious than prayers made on Earth by common
people.

In order to facilitate the process of intercession, it has for
centuries been the practice of the Catholic Pope to declare
that certain occupations and conditions of life have
official "patron" saints who take special interest in those
specific matters. Attested miracles connected with an
occupation or condition that ocurred during the saint's life
or through intercessory prayer after his or her death
influence the realm of life over which he or she is declared
a patron.

Many Catholics address the Virgin Mary with direct prayers
and do not ask her to intercede on their behalfs with
Jehovah, but although this is a common practice, technically
speaking, Mary is not a deity but a holy person, and
therefore prayers addressed to her are also called
"intercessions." In acknowledgement of her widespread
popularity, Mary's various manifestations and apparitions
have been given patronage over an assortment of occupations
and conditions by the Church, as if she were a multiplicity
of saints.

The list of Patron Saints below is by no means complete, and it contains
several individuals who have not received Papal approval but
find common acceptance among folk-Catholics in
various regions. Some people call these non-canonical
intercessors "Folk Saints." They fall roughly into
three categories:

"Legendary" Saints: During the 20th century some former Catholic
saints, such as Saint Christopher, were
down-graded by the Church to the status of mere "legends" because
there was no documentation that they had ever lived. This did not
stop their veneration in the nations which had been the centers of
their cults, and for that reason they are still
believed to be patron saints by many Catholics.

"Not Yet" Saints: Catholics
tend to lobby for the bestowal of sainthood status upon local holy people, thus we
see novenas, statuary, amulets,
and candles produced in advance of a person's
beatification and sainthood in the hope of accumulating examples of intercessions by
these non-canonical figures.
Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez
of Venezuela and Nino Fidencio
of Mexico are prominent examples of this type of Folk-Saint.

"Mythical" Saints: These are entities who have never been saints
and can never become saints because in the eyes of the Church, they do not really exist.
The best known example may be the spirit known as
Santisima Muerte or Santa Muerte
(Most Holy Death or Saint Death) . She is not recognized as a saint by the Vatican,
yet statuary and amulets depicting her skeletal form and printed Novena
booklets filled with prayers to her can be purchased throughout Mexico.

Within the folk-Catholic traditions, information about these saints and the
areas of life over which they assume patronage is passed
along through word of mouth and by means of holy cards which often have
short printed prayers or orations on the reverse, novena booklets containing
longer prayers and a biographical note, and
novena candles with a
short prayer for intercession on the back.

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